U.S. Pairs to Battle for One World Team Berth in Detroit

by Liz Leamy

(14 January 2019) Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim, the amiable and
accomplished husband-wife duo who are two-time U.S.
Champions (2015 and 2018), Tarah Kayne & Danny O’Shea, the
2016 U.S. Champions, Haven Denny & Brandon Frazier, the 2017
U.S. Champions, will join eleven other teams at the 2019
U.S. Championships in Detroit, to compete for the one World
Team berth available to the U.S. this season.

The Knierims, who were 15th at the 2018 Olympics and took
silver at the 2016 U.S. Championships, are looking forward
to competing at Nationals next week, after having undergone
a year of some big changes.

Last spring, the couple announced plans to train with
Aljona Savchenko, the 2018 German Olympic champion and
six-time World titlist, in Europe after having made the
decision to part ways with Dalilah Sappenfield, their former
pair coach based out of Colorado Springs, with whom they had
worked with for many years in tandem with Larry Ibarra.

In October at Skate America (where they finished fourth),
the Knierims then announced they had decided to stop
training with Savchenko.

In November, the Knierims went on to relocate to
California where they started working with Jenni Meno and
Todd Sand, the 1998 World silver medalists and two-time
World bronze medalists, who have been married since 1995
(and have two teenage sons, Jack and Matthew), a venture
that seems to be working well so far in regard to both their
lifestyle and skating.

“It’s been a season with a lot of changes,” said Alexa,
27, a Chicago-area native. “It’s made us so much stronger.”

Chris, 31, a Tucson, Arizona native, agreed.

“This is a building year for the next three years and we
know if we go out and skate a great performance we’re going
to place well,” said Chris. “If we go out to compete, it’s
going to look like it does during practice.”

The Knierims said although they decided to make the
change to move to California, they had very much enjoyed
living (and skating) in Europe.

“It was a great experience and we really enjoyed it,”
said Alexa. “We were sad to leave.”

For both Alexa and Chris, faith has played a major role
in giving them strength throughout this process and also in
their overall lives.

“Faith has played an important role for both of us,” said
Alexa. “I believe all of this was for a purpose.”

The Knierims said they have enjoyed working with Meno and
Sand especially since they share certain things in common
with them, such as being U.S. champions (Meno and Sand are
three-time U.S. titlists), Olympic and World contenders and
also the fact that both couples are married.

“[Jenni and Todd] have been through everything we’ve been
through together,” said Chris. “I think that’s the biggest
thing they bring to us on the day-to-day training [level].”

Alexa agreed.

“I find Jenni and I are very similar and Chris and Todd
are very similar,” said Alexa. “I can talk to Jenni and
Chris can talk to Todd.”

Since moving to California, the Knierims have been
working on all aspects of their skating with Jenni and Todd,
particularly their technical elements.

“We’ve really refined our elements and the elements are
more consistent,” said Chris. “We’re very happy with the
situation we’ve been in.”

Meanwhile, Tarah Kayne & Danny O’Shea, the 2018 Four
Continents champions, also have their sites on skating and
doing well in Detroit.

Kayne, 24, who hails from Florida and O’Shea, a
Chicago-area native, are the 2018 U.S. silver and 2015 U.S.
bronze medalists, and experienced a year of major changes,
just like the Knierims.

Last September, the duo, known for their high-speed lifts
and big throw jumps, among other things, decided to switch
their regimen up and move their home base from Ellenton,
Florida (where they had worked with the esteemed coaches,
Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora) to Colorado Springs, where
they began training with Dalilah Sappenfield, the former
teacher of the Knierims.

“Our season so far [has been] pretty eventful,” said
O’Shea, 27, who was the 2008 U.S. Novice men’s champion.
“We’re both feeling pretty good heading into Nationals and
excited to get there.”

According to Kayne & O’Shea, winning the 2018 Four
Continents Championships was a huge confidence boost for
both of them.

‘Winning Four Continents this past year was a great
experience for us,” said O’Shea. “It was confidence building
and definitely helped us gain momentum and move forward in
our career.”

Kayne & O’Shea also feel good about being part of a
generation that is helping to boost U.S. pairs to a greater
international level right now.

“I think the [top] American pairs you see out there right
now are [helping to change] the stigma of [U.S. pair
skating] and I think we’re good enough to compete with the
rest of the world.”